Traders at textile markets in Kalbadevi want to reopen shops

As many as 20,000 merchants in over 12 markets in Kalbadevi – among them those of big textile markets such as Mangaldas and MJ Market, have been under huge losses, with shops being closed for almost three months now. When the shops were allowed to open from June 5, they were restricted from re-opening as they are considered as market complexes. Malls and market complexes have not been allowed to open in the guidelines for the phased unlock plan under Mission Begin Again.

Mulji Jetha (MJ) Market, Asia’s biggest textile market, alone has around 850 shops in it. Mangaldas Market, another popular city textile market, has around 450 shops. There are other markets in Kalbadevi – Swadeshi Market, Pankaj Market, RJ Market, Kakkad Market, LK Market, Krishna Market and Sindh Market being some of them. The shop owners dispute that these are market complexes and should be considered as markets. “Ours are traditional markets. We are not multi-storeyed. We don’t have central air-conditioning, food courts, theatres, leisure strolling and entertainment areas like malls and market complexes do,” says Gitesh Unadkat, a trader in Swadeshi market and the President of Bombay Swadeshi Market Board.

The traders have been negotiating with elected representatives and have even written to Cheif Minister Uddhav Thackeray. Vijay Lohia, a merchant and convener of the Joint Action Committee of Textile Traders Association, said negotiations are on. “We have incurred losses in crores. We are ready for regulated or part opening, but let us open like other markets,” he says. Krishna Kumar Kotecha, President of Mumbai Textile Merchants Mahajan that represents over 850 traders of MJ Market, says that payments to their distributors are stuck as there have been no sales with the lockdown being imposed. “Ramzan is over. Many of us had stocked up for it. The apparel was to go to Chennai, Delhi, Kerala, etc. It (the investment) is all gone now,” Kotecha says.